US tells Nato if Zelenskyy does not sign peace deal Ukraine will face worse in future
Source: The Guardian
US officials have told Nato allies they expect to push president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into agreeing to a peace deal in the coming days, under the threat that if Kyiv does not sign, it will face a much worse deal in future.
The US army secretary, Dan Driscoll, briefed ambassadors from Nato nations at a meeting in Kyiv late on Friday, after talks with Zelenskyy and taking a phone call from the White House. “No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later,” he told them, according to one person who was present.
...
Driscoll, a close friend of the US vice-president, JD Vance, who has only recently been put on the Ukraine portfolio, declined to go into detail about whether the deal on the table matched a 28-point plan that had been published in the press. “Some things matter, some are window dressing – and we most focused on the things that matter,” he said, according to the source.
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Julie Davis, the US chargée d’affaires in Kyiv, was also present at the meeting and told the other diplomats that although the terms of the deal were punishing for Ukraine, it had little choice but to accept or face worse in future. “The deal does not get better from here, it gets worse,” she said.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/22/ukraine-zelenskyy-peace-deal-us-nato-meeting
This is just Trump being Putin's enforcer. Telling your ally "we're going to make things worse and worse for you" shows you're not actually an ally, you're an enemy.
= new reply since forum marked as read
As a further example of his simplistic thinking beyond the "it must be done sooner rather than later" bullshit, he's also explained away the lack of involvement of crucial international partners who have skin in the game - certainly more that the US has - in the following terms:
International affairs don't work like that and never have. If Driscoll knew anything about them at all and had any self-respect, he'd be too embarrassed to take the line he's been ordered to in front of a distracted bunch of young kids, let alone adults and seasoned negotiators with their countries' welfare on the line and the eyes of the world gazing worriedly on them.
I could rant at length at the moment, but I'm contracting that out to Michael Weiss, who's summing things up on Twitter, far better than I could:
@michaeldweiss
"The more cooks in the kitchen." Right. When you strip away the sheer nonsense of this plan, and get beyond the panic now gripping Europe and D.C., you realize what is being demanded by people with no background in diplomacy and no relationships with Western partners is this: Settling a 10 year war, re-litigating 30+ years of security architecture in Europe, deciding the permanent composition NATO, deciding how the EU will use and spend other people's frozen money -- with no Congressional oversight, no NATO consensus, and no official Russian buy-in on any of the foregoing. All done and dusted before the tryptophan kicks in on Thursday. Easy-peasy. https://politico.eu/article/ukraine-allies-rush-counter-trumps-non-starter-peace-plan/
Michael Weiss
@michaeldweiss
You don't get to say Europe should take on more responsibility for its own defense and security, only to see it do so, and then dictate the terms of Europe's defense and security without European consent. The sooner people realize the absence of American agency here, the more they'll see what a stupid bluff this all is.
Michael Weiss
@michaeldweiss
It also helps to realize that what many see as a well-laid and carefully orchestrated conspiracy is more like a Leroy Jenkins-style end-run by a gaggle of idiots in way over their heads, who think dealing with elected officials, militaries and bureaucracies on the continent is the same as taking bribes from emirs in the Gulf.
